Smile December
by SydFord1012
Summary: Puck and Finn's childhood friend come back to town. She will find new friends, have fun, maybe even fall in love, but her dark past may come back to haunt her. Will she stay strong with the help of her new friend, Rory? Or will she crumble into the depths of despair? You have to read to find out! Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, I only own my OC.
1. December Blue Colt

**Hey, Sorry for the super long chapter, not all of them will be this long, I just wanted to get at least one song in before I complete it. I hope you like it and please please review! Also, I do not own anything here besides my OC, because there are some things like McDonald's and The Gap and things like that, I don't own those! Anyways, I hope you enjoy and please tell me what you think! TTFN :3**

* * *

"Puck," Finn ran through the hallways of McKinley high. "Did you hear?" he stopped and started to walk beside Puck.

"Yeah, I can't believe she's coming. Man, I haven't seen her in a year." Puck shook his head.

"Who are you talking about?" Rachel came out of nowhere and walked beside Finn.

"Just a girl Puck and I have known for forever." Finn exclaimed. "She's coming into town and if you could not mention the fact that Puck got Quinn pregnant, that would be great."

"God, she'd kill me." Puck rolled his eyes. He stopped at his locker and opened it to put his backpack in it, Finn kept walking with Rachel.

"Is it his girlfriend?" Rachel asked nosily. "I didn't know he had a girlfriend."

"No," Finn laughed. "I think Puck had a crush on her when he first met her, but now we're in high school, and they've both grown."

Rachel looked down at the floor. 'If this girl is a childhood friend of Finn's, maybe she knows more about him than I do.' She thought. "Hey guys, Glee's starting." Artie rolled by and entered the familiar room, filled with glee club members. Puck had already arrived, in fact, Finn and Rachel seemed to be the last ones there.

"All right, guys." Mr. Shue leaned on the piano just as Finn and Rachel sat down. "I want you to find a song that expresses regret and sadness, its Blue Monday next Monday and I want you to find a song before then."

"Mr. Shue, what's Blue Monday?" Mercedes asked.

"It's supposedly the saddest day of the year. The third Monday of the year, feeling poor after buying Christmas presents, less sun exposure, failed New Year's resolutions, the summers far away, and general lack in motivation. All in all, it's not pretty."

"So the song just has to be sad?" Santana asked.

"Yes, and you'll have plenty of time seeing as its only Wednesday."

"Uh, Mr. Shue, I'm having a friend come into town, does that mean I still have to do it?"

"Sorry, but yes." Will nodded.

"You mean Demi?" Quinn turned around to face Finn.

"Yeah, she's coming into town and I'm pretty sure she's moving here." Finn said, earning a bobbing head from Puck.

"Wow, I haven't seen here in awhile, does she remember me?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, she's asked about you before."

"Demi?" Santana asked.

"A girl Finn and I grew up with." Puck explained.

"Will we meet her?" Artie asked.

"Yeah." Finn grinned. "She's staying with us until her and her dad can get their own place.

"I'm still not giving up my bed." Kurt crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I said I'd give up my bed, I'll sleep on the couch." Finn smiled.

"So, you'll have a girl that's not related to you sleep under the same roof?" Santana said. Her mind was obviously in the gutter.

"It's not like that; she's like a sister to me." Finn exclaimed.

"So, she'll be going to this school?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to even try to get her to join Glee club, maybe she'll make it more interesting." Puck wiggled his eyebrows.

"We'll have to see if she can sing first." Rachel chimed in.

"Have you ever met her?" Blaine looked at Kurt.

"No, I've seen pictures and heard stories, but that's as far as my knowledge of her goes." Kurt replied.

"I saw a movie about Demi-Gods, is she one?" Britney asked.

"She watched Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief last night; she hasn't shut up about it." Santana said rudely.

"Her name's short for December." Puck corrected.

"She's supposed to be coming in town today, but I don't know when she's starting school."

"Do you think she'd like me?" Sugar had been dying to have a girlfriend to talk to, she didn't have a strong bond with any of the girls in Glee.

"I'm not sure; I think you guys are kind of opposites."

"What do you mean?" she knitted her brows.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing." He defended himself.

"Where's she from?" Rory asked in his Irish accent.

"Boston." Puck said.

"So why is she moving here?" Rachel asked.

"Her Dad has to travel a lot, so when he couldn't find someone to look after her when he was gone; he decided it would be best if she moved here, at least she knows someone here."

"How did you meet her?" Tina asked.

"My Mom knew her Dad in high school, they reconnected online and he brought her here for a summer, Puck and I met her then." Finn explained.

"Alright, well, that was it. Do what you want for awhile; I have to go ask Ms. Pillsbury something." Will said as he glanced at his watch.

"Can I be excused? I kind of wanted to meet her when she got here." Finn asked him before he left.

"Yeah sure, just remember, Blue Monday."

"Alright." Finn got up, Puck followed him.

* * *

"Oh, hello Puck," Mrs. Hudson-Hummel said when they walked through the door. "I should have expected to see you." She folded the last bit of laundry as her son kissed her on the cheek.

"Is she here yet?" he asked excitedly. His mother smiled.

"They're supposed to be coming down the street now." She said.

"Thanks!" they both yelled and ran outside to meet her. And there she was, well, not her, her car; she had gotten it for her birthday last year. It was a 1960s black Impala, she did love it. But it was the driver they were looking at, they hadn't seen her for over a year and she has definitely grown, she held her more mature like and her sense in clothes had certainly improved. She had cut her hair, now it was shoulder length but still curly.

She got out of the car to greet them. "Hello, boys." She said as she shut her car door. Her father had obviously not enjoyed having her drive because his face looked green when he stumbled out of the passenger door.

"You got your driver's license?" Finn asked.

"Learners Permit." She waved a card in front of them, and then brought each of them into a bear hug. "God, I missed you." She laughed and ran her fingers through her jet black hair. She had a black lace duster on, dark skinny jeans, a grey tank top, black leather boots that went to her knees, and a silver feather necklace, it all suited her but there was fear of the duster dragging along the ground because she was short. "So, anything exciting happen?" she said innocently, but they could sense she knew something.

"Like what?" Puck said cautiously.

"Oh, I don't know." She smiled and tilted her head.

"Do you know?" Finn asked with a sigh.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"What do you know about?" Puck asked stupidly.

"About Finn here getting a new girlfriend!" she lightly hit his stomach. "Honestly, I suppose I'll have to meet her." She said with a shrug.

"Meet her?" Finn said wide eyed.

"Meet Rachel?" Puck laughed. "I don't think you two would get along."

"Why not?" She said defensively.

"You're just not exactly her kind of friend." Finn said. Mr. Colt walked past them after breathing to try to keep the bile down.

"Hello Finn, Noah." He gagged. "I'm going to say hello to your Mother, Finn." He attempted to pat Pucks shoulder but ended up just leaning on him for support. "You're getting better, dear." He said. Then he walked up to the door and hobbled inside.

"Thank you, Daddy." She smiled and watched him almost fall several times. "So, what are we going to do?" she clapped her hands.

"I was going to see Rachel later." Finn said and looked at Puck.

"I'm going to work." He grinned.

"Ah, Finn, work beats date." She smiled. "Well now I can meet this Rachel I'm not going to be friend's with." she stepped towards her car.

"Maybe I should drive?" Finn looked at the car with the memory of Mr. Colt trying not to hurl.

"Come on you pansy, take it like a man." She laughed and ducked into the driver's seat.

* * *

Rachel sat at a table, sipping her tea, reading lyrics to a song she was thinking about doing for Blue Monday when she heard a car drive up beside her. The window unrolled to reveal her boyfriend. "Hey." He said as he got out of the car.

"Hi." She said confused. "Whose car is that?"

"Mine." A black haired girl hopped out of the driver's seat. "You must be Rachel." She held out her hand and Rachel stood up to take it.

"Demi?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's good to meet you finally." She shook it with a firm grasp. "I've heard so much about you." She then shot a glare at Finn. Rachel assumed that meant Finn hadn't told Demi anything about her.

"It's good to meet you too, I hear you're from Boston?" the two girls sat down and Demi ordered an iced late.

"Yeah, it's really great up there, but I'm glad I get to see Finn and Puck again." She smiled. Rachel noticed her smile was beautiful, and she seemed to like Finn and Puck a lot, should Rachel be worried?

"Well, are you going to join the Glee Club?" she smiled but inside she was wondering if this girl could take the spotlight, she was prettier and she looked like she might be able to sing pretty well.

"Maybe, I mean, Finn and Puck made it seem pretty fun, but I'm not that into groups." She laughed and stirred her drink.

"Oh, come on, you have to!" Finn scoffed. "It would be so much fun!"

"Okay, okay, maybe I'll try out, but there's no guarantee I'll get in."

"Of course you will, you're a great singer."

She smiled. "But I haven't sung anything since we were kids."

"You haven't sung anything?" he said in disbelief.

"I've sung along with songs on the radio, but that's it." She looked over to Rachel. "How do you put up with this over grown puppy dog?"

"I have my ways. Anyways, what are you going to sing for Blue Monday, Finn?"

"Oh, I haven't decided, but we have until next Monday, I'll have plenty of time."

"Well, I think I'll sing Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri" She grinned. "I think it's sad enough."

"Oh, I know that song." Demi looked at her. "It's definitely sad." Then she looked at Finn. "What's Blue Monday?"

"Oh, Umm." He tried to remember.

"It's the saddest day of the year. We're supposed to sing a song for it." Rachel helped him.

"You're supposed to sing a sad song for it?" she looked down with pursed lips. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, that's when Rachel noticed several earrings in her ear, a triple helix earring, the three rings sat at the top of her ear, the in the other ear, was a snug piercing with a barbell, both had two lobe piercings and the lowest was a silver hoop, the one above that was a small clock face.

"I like your piercings." She said.

"Thanks, I want to get an eyebrow one, but my Dad keeps telling me no face piercings until I'm 18." She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I'll come home with more metal on my face than skin, I've seen that and trust me I don't want that." She took a sip of her late. "I have a belly button piercing now." She turned to Finn.

"Really?" he said surprised.

"Yeah, I got last year, a little after I last saw you."

"Cool." He nodded.

She glanced at black, leather, wrist watch. "Oh, I have to go, do you want me to pick you up?" she looked at Finn.

"No." she shook his head, he really didn't want to drive with that maniac again. "Don't get into a car accident, oh you can't drive by yourself, you only have a learners permit."

"It's fine, I'll drive slowly." She shook her head and jumped into her car and drove off.

* * *

At the shopping district, Demi walked into the mini-mall, as she liked to call it. She had been here before, but she still had a bad sense of direction, so she repeatedly got lost. She tried to find the food court but ended up in Rue 21 somehow, alright not somehow, she decided her growling stomach could wait until she looked through her favorite store.

She found some clothes that would suit her perfect. After checking out, she felt sick, she hadn't eaten anything today, only drunken a couple glasses of water and the iced late she had had at the café with Finn and Rachel. She quickly made her way to a small McDonald's; she ordered a bacon cheese burger and fries, and a medium soft drink. She got up to fill her cup with root beer but had to wait behind a boy with way too much gel in his hair and a blonde boy with a big mouth. "I'm telling you Sam, if I sing Randy Newman, you can't sing him too." Gel Boy said.

"Then why don't I sing him and you sing something else?" the boy, Sam said. They were mostly arguing instead of getting their drinks. Demi clacked her teeth together impatiently.

"Because I already know the song I want to sing, you don't." Gel Boy said and continued filling his diet coke. "Kurt wanted diet, right?" he looked up at Sam.

"Yeah, hold on." Sam filled his cup with coca-cola. "So, Blaine, are you excited to meet that girl Finn was talking about?"

Demi's eyes shot up at them. "I don't know, from what Kurt's said, she seems pretty okay." Demi smirked. 'That's right; Kurt is Finn's new step-brother.' She thought.

"Come on, I wonder if she's hot." Demi snickered, causing Sam's head to whip around. "Oh, sorry, were we in your way?" he said politely.

Blaine turned around to see a girl similar to what Kurt's described. "Sorry." He said while holding three different cups in his hands.

"It's fine, but do you by chance go to school with Finn and Puck?" she asked.

"Yeah, you're Demi, aren't you?" Blaine asked, Sam's eyes went big.

"Oh god, you didn't just hear…" she nodded with a smirk. "Ah, well at least I was right." He grinned.

"Thanks." She said slowly. "Are you hitting on me?"

"Am I?" he said with a smile.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "It's nice to finally meet you." He said. Another boy came up to them; he was in a wheelchair and had glasses.

"Hey, do you guys need help?" he asked.

"No, we got it." Blaine said. The wheelchair boy's eye landed on Demi. "This is Demi, the girl Finn was talking about." Blaine explained.

"Oh, it's good to meet you." He held out his hand. "Do you want to sit down with us?" he pointed at a table with only one person Demi recognized, Quinn. She had met Quinn when Quinn had first started dating Finn; they had gotten along pretty well.

"Are you sure?" she asked. She did want to say hi to Quinn and meet all of Finn and Puck's friends.

"Yeah, come on." Sam said and he walked towards the table.

"I just have to fill this up." She gestured to her cup. "I'll be there in a minute."

He nodded and continued walking. They all seemed nice enough; maybe this wouldn't be like her old school, split into different groups, everyone ridiculing others just for being different. It was awful, especially when you didn't know what group you belonged to, that's where she was at for the year she was there.

She got her food and thanked the cashier and walked over to the Glee Club. "Hi." Quinn said and scooted over to make room for her.

"Hi, it's nice to see you again, Quinn." Quinn smiled and continued eating her salad.

"So, you're the infamous Demi?" Kurt said and smiled. He seemed nice; of course she would be living with him for the time being so she had hoped he was nice.

"Yep, you must be Kurt?" he nodded. "It's good to finally meet you, Kurt." She smiled.

There was 12 people total at that table, Demi learned their names. Sugar was a rich girl who was really into fashion, Mercedes was a fun-to-be-around girl, Sam was a weird fellow she couldn't quite describe but she did enjoy his company, Kurt was funny and Demi really liked him, Blaine was fun and he was really the person Demi liked a lot, Santana was mean anyone could see that but Demi thought she must be kind in some way, Brittany was…well…Brittany, Quinn was as fun as she had been before if not a little more laid back, Artie was funny and cute she could be his friend, Tina was interesting, along with her boyfriend, Mike, he was a really good dancer so Demi thought she could get along with him really well, and then there was December Blue Colt, usually the odd one out, but not here, she felt right at home. Apparently there was some Irish exchange student who didn't make it.

"So, why is your name December? I mean, were you born in December or something?"

"No, I was born in October, my mother named me, she liked Christmas. Actually, I was supposed to be named Christmas but Mom also liked the name Demi so, yeah." She looked down at her food, suddenly not hungry; she always got like this when she talked about her mother. Her mother, Alexandra Reid, was not the best mother according to her Dad. Demi couldn't remember first 5 years of her life, her therapist said it was because she had blocked it out, when her father found out she existed, and she was covered in bruises, hungry, and neglected. She doesn't remember what her mother looked like, and she had inherited most of her father's traits so that wasn't much to go on. Her blue eyes were the only thing she had that was a connection to her mother, beside a few emotional scars and blocked memories, she had a poem her mother had sent her a few years ago, it was framed on her desk and made her tear up whenever she looked at it. It must have been written in lies.

It read: _My darling December,_

 _I'm sorry for anything I've done to you, I couldn't protect you, I didn't have it in me. I don't even know your address, and I'm glad for that because then Jerry might find you. But I hope you'll get this, I'll just send it to your previous address and hope it get's forwarded._

 _I know I'm not the mother of the year, never have been, but I just want to know you know I would never harm you myself. I wasn't in my right state of mind, drugs and booze will do that to you, oh that reminds me, stay away from those! They will mess you up._

 _I remember your first steps and first words, pre-Jerry. He was a mistake I could only hope I could take back; I never should have moved to that neighborhood, it was all a mistake, except you. You were the only good thing in my life and I messed that up too._

 _I wish I could say that I want you back, but I would only mess you up further, with your father is a better place for you. My only wish is not that you forgive me but that you grow up to be safe from me, grow up smart happy, because that is my only wish._

 _With all my love_

 _Your poor excuse of a Mother._

The paper is torn and aged but she refused to throw it out, it was the only words from her "Poor excuse of a Mother" left.

"What's your full name?" Quinn asked curiously.

"December Colt." She never said her middle name, it embarrassed her. Not even Finn or Puck knows, only her father.

"Wow, that's a cool name." Mike said.

"Thanks." She looked down at her watch. She had texted Puck saying she would meet up with him, she could just tell him to meet her here. Just like magic, he called. "Excuse me." She looked up at everyone, and got up to talk to him.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Demi? Hey, where are we going to hang out?"

"Oh, can you meet me at the Mini-Mall; I've met some of your friends." She glanced at the table.

"Oh god." He sighed. "Who all is there?"

"About everyone, except for some Irish guy." she looked over the table once more.

"Okay, I'll be there in 15 minutes." He said. "Bye." A click could be heard and then the line disconnected.

"Hey, Puck's coming in a little while." She said as she sat back down.

"Cool, what about Finn?" Mercedes asked.

"Nah, I think he's still with Rachel." She put her phone back into her pocket.

"Oh. Hey do you want to go to The Gap with us?" Quinn asked. And by "Us" she meant all of the girls, as Demi soon found out.

"Demi, I think this would suit you!" Quinn pulled out a pink, knee-length, sleeveless dress with white flowers along the bottom. In Quinn's eyes it was probably a cute thing that Demi would look adorable in, but in Demi's eyes it was a pink monstrosity with frills.

"No." she said shortly. "No, no Quinn." She said as Quinn inched closer with the blinding pinkness.

"Just try it!" Quinn seemed to pounce on her. After Mercedes, Tina, and Santana joined in, Demi was overpowered. They put her hair up in a messy bun and some loose black curls framing her face, they put a diamond necklace on her and matched the dress with a white cardigan and white flats. Quinn, Sugar, and Brittany cooed over it, Mercedes, Santana, and Tina laughed at how much like a little girl she looked. They all wanted to cry when an adorable pout formed on Demi's face. Demi whipped her phone out of her jeans that were draped over the door and quickly texted Puck " _Help me, I'm in The Gap and their ruining my appearance!_ " the respond came quicker than she expected.

" _Hold on._ " She stared at the doorway, waiting for her hero to rescue her from the evil dragons. After a couple of minutes of suffocating in the "Oohs" and "Ahhs" of women passing by thinking she was some rich girl model, she spotted Puck and waved him over. His eyebrows shot up when he saw what she was wearing.

"What the hell?" he laughed.

"Shut up!" she hissed at him and the others saw him walk up.

"What do you think, Puck?" Quinn moved next to Demi.

"Isn't she adorable?" Sugar squealed.

"Yeah." He said while trying to hold back a smirk. Demi shot him a glare.

"I'm going to change…where did you put my clothes?" she asked.

"In here." Santana waved a paper bag in front of her.

"Why did you put them in there?"

"Because, you're going to wear that for the rest of the day." She smiled deviously.

"I hate you." She murmured. They all walked back to where the guys were.

Sam and Artie gaped at her when they saw her, Mike avoided saying anything because Tina was there, and Kurt and Blaine complimented her and said she should wear something like that more often. Demi was thankful for Puck, who said he liked how she normally dressed; bless her childhood friend who knew her so well.

* * *

Finn was just as surprised at her attire when he saw it, but he quickly adjusted and spoke to her as if she wasn't wearing anything different.

At night, Finn offered her his bed but she declined, he then insisted and she finally gave in, he can be so persistent. It was morning now and she dressed out of her grey t-shirt and boxer shorts that she slept in, and into a pair of dark skinny jeans again, a dark grey, oversized sweater, and black flats. It was very comfortable, and kept her warm considering it was freezing outside.

Today would be her first day at McKinley, and she wanted to be as comfortable as she could be, she just brushed her hair and decided not to tie it up, its black curls bounced back up and rested on her shoulders. She didn't have any jewelry on today and only some lip gloss and mascara on, first impressions had never been important for her.

"Demi, Finn said he needed you." Kurt looked into the open door to the bathroom. "Is that what you're wearing?" he looked at the baggy sweater and skinny jeans, flats, and nothing for her hair. "Your surprisingly cute even with nothing fancy on." He said with a tang of jealousy.

"Thanks?" she took that to mean he always had to dress perfectly. "I'll be down in a sec." she finished brushing her hair and went to see what Finn wanted.

"Hey, what are you going to sing for your Glee audition?" He asked when he saw her

"I don't know, I figured I would wing it." She shrugged.

He rolled his eyes. "You can't just wing it."

"Fine, I'll think of it on the way there. Now, do you want me to drive you?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Kurt?"

"Sure." Kurt turned to them.

"Can I drive?" Finn hated it when she drove.

"Nope, my car, I'm driving."

"Fine." They hopped into the car, Kurt in the backseat for some reason and Finn in the passenger seat, and of course Demi was sitting in the driver's seat. She drove horribly and scared Kurt half to death, Finn laughed nervously besides her, trying not to let her see how terrified he was. They squealed into a parking spot and she got out before either of them had a chance to catch their breaths. Some guys in letterman jackets, were walking together, shoving each other and holding a football, occasionally passing it to someone else. They stopped when they saw Demi, she got some whistles and some guys asking for her number, until Finn got out of the car and glared at them. "Hi Demi." Rachel came up to them after the jocks had left.

"Hey Rachel." They started walking side by side and Kurt walked with Finn behind them. "Do you have any suggestions on what I should sing for the audition?"

"No, but maybe something easy." She suggested, she had yet to see if Demi was a treat to her.

"Oh, I have the perfect song!" she jumped for joy.

"Great." Rachel laughed, so far Demi had been enjoyable to have around, and Rachel hoped there wouldn't be any competition with Demi.

They went inside and went their separate ways, seeing as Demi was younger than them; she was in a grade below them.

Demi's classes went pretty okay, her teachers seemed to either be nice or just ignore everything, so that suited her fine. In one class, she sat beside some interesting people in some classes and other times she wished she didn't sit next to anyone. She didn't notice the quite boy in the corner, other times he sat next to her, but neither of them noticed each other.

* * *

Rory had had a pretty okay day so far, only been shoved into the wall once and avoided any slushies. Apparently there was a new girl in class, but he hadn't bothered to look up from his book, everyone was talking about how cute she looked, he cursed himself for not looking up. Oh well, there was always tomorrow.

Glee was going to hold an audition for Finn's friend and apparently, everyone's already met her because she was at the mall with them, he cursed himself again for not going. His class didn't have last period today and Glee wouldn't start until everyone was out so he decided to go down to the auditorium, maybe practice for Blue Monday.

But when he saw someone down there he was shocked. All he saw from the doors was a head full of black hair, he knew a couple of people with black hair but none of them would be here now.

He stepped closer to see a girl, fast asleep, stretched out on one of the chairs; she mumbled something and shifted slightly.

"Hello?" Rory said, but her eyes didn't open, instead her head moved drowsily to face him.

"Puck?" She mumbled, she opened one blue eye to see Rory standing there, confused. "You're not Puck."

"Nope." He shook his head. "Don't mean to be rude but, who are you?"

"Demi. Are you with Glee?"

"Yeah, you must be the girl Fin and Puck were talking about."

"Yes, and you must be Rory, judging by your accent and the fact that I've yet to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." He held out his hand. She reluctantly sat up and took it.

"Nice to meet you too." She slumped back to the chair and patted the seat next to her. He sat in it. "So you're from Ireland, what's it like there?"

"It's nice, you're from Boston right? How is it there?"

"It's nice." She mirrored him.

"You're here to audition, right?"

"Yeah, do you think I'll be accepted?"

"Maybe, do you want to be accepted?" she looked at him shocked. She didn't expect that, she hadn't given it much thought. But now that she did, she knew she definitely wanted to be in Glee, she did love to sing, and she liked the people in it.

"Yeah, I do." She whispered, but he heard her. She was pale, and her hair was jet black curls that went to her shoulder, she dressed comfortably yet somehow adorably, and her voice was soft but strong, he couldn't help but feel she would be an amazing singer.

Soon they were joined by the rest of the Glee club. "Oh Rory, that's right, you're in the same grade as Demi." Finn said as they entered the auditorium.

"Hello, you must be Demi, I've heard a lot about you." A man with insane hair walked up to her and shook her hand.

"Everyone seems to want to shake my hand." She said.

"You're an interesting person." Rory said defensively. "And it is polite."

"I guess." She stood up on the stage and a microphone was put in front of her. She muttered her thanks to the man that retreated back to the piano. She had told them previously about what to play, they all knew it. She cleared her throat and Finn gave her thumbs up and Puck grinned proudly.

 _"_ _2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,_

 _'_ _Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,  
I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season'  
Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes  
Like they have any right at all to criticize,  
Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason"_

They all stood in awe of her. Finn and Puck knew she could do better, but she was saving that for later. Her voice was soft yet strong, just like her normal voice, but it resonated with Rory, it was beautiful, that was clear.

 _"_ _Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable  
and life's like an hourglass, glued to the table  
No one can find the rewind button, girl.  
So cradle your head in your hands  
And breathe... just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe"_

She closed her eyes and sang. To her, she was sitting in her bedroom back in Boston, texting her best friend and singing quietly to herself.

 _"_ _May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss  
"Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist,  
"Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."  
Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,  
But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,  
Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it._

Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,  
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.  
No one can find the rewind button, boys,  
So cradle your head in your hands,  
And breathe... just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe"

Playing with Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson. Just a little girl, playing on the playground, swinging, trying her hardest to go higher than Noah but always failing, until Finn helped her and she finally beat that smug Noah. Finn, her older brother, well, in a sense. Noah, a mischievous little devil that always seemed to get her in trouble, but always made her laugh too. Playing on the playground with Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson.

 _"_ _There's a light at each end of this tunnel,  
You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out  
And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again  
If you'd only try turning around._

2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song  
If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,  
Threatening the life it belongs to  
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd  
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud  
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,  
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table  
No one can find the rewind button now  
Sing it if you understand.  
And breathe, just breathe  
whoa breathe, just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe,  
Oh breathe, just breathe."

She finished her song and took a bow, she caught her breath and looked at the shocked Glee Club, Puck and Finn were the first to clap, a look of smug pride on their faces. Mr. Shue walked up to her. "You were amazing." He wrapped an arm over her shoulder and guided her down the step and off the stage.

"I didn't know you had it in you." Santana said.

"That was great Demi!" Finn said with his big grin.

Quinn gave her a hug and told her how great she was; everyone else seemed to do the same, even hugging. Rory smiled and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "I knew you could do it." He said and put his hands into his pockets.

"Thanks." She laughed, and then turned to Mr. Shue. "Did I make it?"

"Of course." She laughed and gave him a big hug. They all laughed and talked for awhile after that and Demi felt she could definitely get used to the Glee Club.


	2. Breathless

"Hey." Finn came up behind Demi and hung an arm over her shoulder. She laughed and looked up at him.

"Hey." She kept walking.

"I didn't see you this morning, had you already left?"

"Yeah, I had to help Rory with something."

"You've been hanging out with Rory a lot lately." Finn implied.

"We are in the same class, besides we're friends." Finn had on a striped polo shirt and faded jeans, what he seemed to have on when he didn't have on some sort of hoodie, she admired his lack of variety. She herself had on a black hoodie she had borrowed from Puck, so of course it had skull and crossbones on the back and it was too big for her, and her old, torn, faded jeans, and a pair of red slip-ons.

"Oh, well I have to go meet up with Rachel real quick, do you want to come?"

"Nah, I told Puck I would meet him in Glee Club."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Alright." They waved at each other and Demi kept walking. She had promised to meet Puck, but they didn't have to go to Glee Club for a little while, she just didn't feel like dealing with Rachel right now. She had read that letter after she woke up and immediately started crying, it had been a bad morning, except for when she met Rory, he always made her feel better. And speak of the Devil, there was Rory walking down the halls, he didn't see her because a couple of jocks had walked up and shoved him against the lockers. Her steps faltered and she watched wide eyed as they pinned him against the locker doors and told him off about something she couldn't here.

She walked over to him and looked calmly at the meat head holding Rory. "What are you doing?" she cocked her head to the side.

"Stay out of this." The guy, Scott, kept his eyes on Rory's.

"You know if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were falling in love with him." She laughed and it earned a grin from Rory, although his eyes remained on Scott.

"What?" he dropped the Irish boy and looked at her. She knew he probably wouldn't hit her, but he might shout some verbal abuse and hit Rory.

"Well, you were gazing so lovingly in his eyes." She smiled and raised her eyebrows.

Scott just stared at her. "Look, you're that new girl aren't you? You're Puck and Finn's friend?"

"Yeah." She said. She had to crane her head because he seemed to be towering over her, she didn't think it was intentional. It might have been because he was tall and she was short.

"Well I don't want to be killed by both of them so why don't you just leave now?" Well now he was definitely towering over her on purpose. She didn't like it, so she kicked him right where it hurt; he fell to the ground and yelled curse words.

"Hey!" A teacher came out of the classroom around them.

Demi gasped and grabbed Rory's hand. "Come on!" she yelled over the crowed surrounding them.

She didn't let go of his hand until they were in an empty classroom, panting and trying to catch their breaths.

"I don't think he saw my face, right?" she looked at him with wide blue eyes, her black hair was in a mess and her face was red with excitement.

"I don't think so." Rory said breathlessly, yet for some reason it felt like there was another reason for it.

"Good, I wouldn't want to have to go to the principal's office days after I started." She stood up straight and smiled devilishly. "That was fun though. Why did they attack you?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I don't know why they do that, I'll just be walking and suddenly it's like I did something wrong." He looked down at the ground.

"Well that's not good at all." She peered outside the door to see the Teacher searching each classroom. "Shit."

She pushed him out the door while the teacher was busy looking in another room. "What are you-"he stopped when she, not so gently, pushed him into the janitor's closet.

"Be quite for a minute…" she turned off the light and slunk down to the floor, followed by Rory. It was pretty cramped in there, and the janitorial equipment didn't help, so they sat there. She pulled her knees up to her chest and he looked over at her, he could hear her breathing and the footsteps of the Teacher coming closer. "Hold on." She whispered and pulled her hood over her head and placed a fire retardant blanket over both of them. "It'll just look like the Janitor made a mess. She crawled underneath it and motioned for him to do the same. The sat underneath the blanket, hoping the Teacher didn't find them, that would mean she would be accused of violence and he probably would be too. How unfair, their school system, of course it probably would have been a good idea not to kick Scott between the legs.

The Teacher's footsteps came closer and he opened the door, all he saw was an empty closet with a fallen fire retardant blanket. He growled, he wasn't the type to give up and went to look in another place.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Demi let out a giggle. "I didn't think that would work." She admitted and sat back up.

"You didn't?" he looked at the huge risk taker in front of him and smiled. "That's amazing." The words slipped out before he could even know what he was saying.

She looked at him like he had just told her something completely obvious. "Duh." She smiled and opened the door to check and see if the cost is clear, she waved her hand as a motion for him to follow her, he did of course. "So, Glee is starting soon, you coming?" she looked over at him and let her hood fall back down.

"Yeah, sure." He followed her, as he thought their friendship would mostly be like, after all, he was nowhere near as risky as she was.

* * *

They made it to Glee just in time, earned a few suspicious glances at their messy hair and clothes, faces flushed because they had to run to get away from the Teacher that had seen them after they got out of the closet and decided to chase them down.

"Where were you?" Santana asked when they stumbled into the room giggling.

"Oh…Um…" Demi didn't want Finn to know she had to run from a Teacher within days of her starting, Puck would just laugh and probably congratulate her for getting away. "We had to deliver something to the Teachers, we were assigned to do it so we couldn't get out of it, sorry." She put on a pouty look and took a seat; Rory tried to hold back his grin and sat down next to her.

"Alright guys, today is Blue Monday, show me what you got." Mr. Shue said and took a seat by the nice piano guy.

Rachel got up and sang her song, followed by Finn then Mercedes then Quinn, everyone was done then, it was either Rory or Demi's turn to go since they were late. They looked at each other and thought about who would go first, then a brilliant idea popped into their minds. They both wanted to get out of their fast because they had a previous engagement, so they decided to do a duet. Say Something, by a Great Big World

They got up and grabbed two microphones and laughed, they were definitely going to be best friends.

 _Rory: "Say something, I'm giving up on you  
I'll be the one, if you want me to.  
Anywhere I would've followed you  
Say something, I'm giving up on you"_

They smiled at each other. It was fun, they had to admit that. They started dancing.

 _Rory and Demi: "And I am feeling so small  
It was over my head  
I know nothing at all"_

"And I will stumble and fall  
I'm still learning to love  
Just starting to crawl"

Rory grabbed her hand and twirled her around, they laughed.

 _"Say something, I'm giving up on you  
I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you.  
Anywhere I would've followed you  
Say something, I'm giving up on you"_

 _"And I will swallow my pride  
you're the one that I love  
and I'm saying goodbye"_

 _"Say something, I'm giving up on you  
And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you  
And anywhere I would've followed you (Oh-oh-oh-oh)  
Say something, I'm giving up on you"_

 _"Say something, I'm giving up on you.  
Say something..."_

Everyone got up and cheered, it was a good performance and they were starting to realize that Demi was not a bad dancer. Demi had actually taken dancing lessons to occupy her free time when she lived in Boston, she had even gotten into a very elite dance school and everyone wanted her to dance with them. She was proud of her medals and trophies but she couldn't say she missed dancing on stages, gaining popularity from being able to simply twirl or flip.

"What was that?" a woman with a track suit on and short blonde hair walked through the door.

"Sue, not now." Mr. Shue raised his hands.

"Can it William." She said without taking her eyes off of Demi. "Who are you?"

"December Colt." She looked at the woman straight on while everyone else backed away. "Everyone just calls me Demi."

"That's a stupid name." she looked over the small teenager, badly dressed and full of confidence that Sue couldn't help but want to crush. "Listen you mangy little stray, if you want to continue here you better be at your best and if that was your best than I suggest you save yourself the humiliation and walk away now."

"Sue-"Mr. Shue angrily started but was interrupted.

"And listen here you track suit wearing, middle aged, wannabe, I'm not leaving because some old hag wants me to. And for the record, that wasn't even close to my best, and I dare you to tell me otherwise." Demi ended with a smirk.

Sue clapped slowly with a terrifying smile. "Well I'll be, you might just have the uterus to be called a bitch. You might even be up there with Santana." She smiled again and turned to the door.

"Was that all you wanted, Sue?" Mr. Shue asked.

"Oh yeah, I came in here to tell you someone slashed your tires. Huh, I wonder who." Then she left leaving an angry Will Shuester.

"Damn, Demi. I didn't think you would stand up to Coach Sylvester like that, I've got to give you props." Santana said after Sue had left.

"Thanks." Demi half heartedly, really she was tired of all the Glee Club drama, sure, that's sort of all they do, but maybe they can tone it down? She was tired and kind of wanted to go home.

After saying bye to everyone, she drove home. But when she got there, she wished she had stayed at Glee Club forever, because nothing would have been as bad as this, no drama, just silence.

* * *

 **Hi, please review and tell me what you think, maybe give me some ideas for a chapter. Thank you! :)**


	3. Irishman

Her father was gone…Not dead, just gone. He had packed up and left while she was at school.

When she opened the door to the house, she was greeted with the sad faces of Mrs. and Mr. Hudson-Hummel. Her smile faded quickly. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"We need to talk, Demi." Mrs. Hudson-Hummel said.

"About?" she titled her head and gave a nervous smile.

"Your father…" Mr. H said. "He's gone."

She didn't say anything; she wasn't sure what they meant.

"Demi, he left." Mrs. H said sadly. "He left us some custody forms to fill out."

"No…" she shook her head. "He wouldn't leave like that." She fought back the tears that threatened to fall. "He wouldn't just leave!" her voice was shaky.

"Demi, it's alright." Mrs. H tried to hug her but Demi took a step back.

"Why would he leave?" she asked. "That doesn't make sense."

"Demi? What's going on?" Finn and Kurt walked through the door.

"No…No…" she shook her head and ran up the stairs.

"Mom, what's going on?" Finn asked Mrs. H.

"Her father left, and gave us custody." She sighed.

"What?" Finn asked. "Why?"

"I don't know, he didn't leave a note. But lately he's been hinting at leaving her here, I didn't think he would do it."

"But…" he couldn't think straight. He ran up the stairs to Demi. "Hey," he opened the door to his room, only to find her curled up in the corner.

"Hey…" she said quietly.

"Demi, are you okay?" he knew it was a stupid question, but he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She kept her head down.

"Come on." He grabbed her hand to help her up but she didn't stand up. "Don't make me carry you." He laughed.

There was only silence but eventually she stood, her knees were shaky, but she managed.

"Alright, let's go." He led her outside and got into the car.

"Where?" She said half-heartedly.

"You'll see." She got into the passenger seat and let him drive.

After a couple of minutes driving, they pulled into a McDonalds.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

Then Puck came into view, leaning against the building. "Hey man." Finn got out of the car.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, before seeing Demi get out of the car, tear stained cheeks and lifeless eyes. "What happened?"

Finn explained it and Puck immediately hugged Demi. "I'm fine Puck." She said in a meek and quiet voice, he didn't like it, meek and quiet wasn't her.

"No, you're not." He let go of her and wiped some tears away.

"Why did he go?" she asked. Puck didn't know the answer, but he wished Mr. Colt was standing right here, right now, he'd punch him in the face.

"I don't know." Finn patted Demi's back. "But, I'm sure he'll come back."

"Then why did he leave custody forms?" she glared at Finn. "None of this makes sense." She felt tears starting to sting her eyes again.

"Demi-" Puck started but she interrupted him.

"Thanks guys, but I'm going to go." She looked up at their faces. "I need some time alone, to sort this out." Finn nodded and Puck went to drive him home, while Demi drove to a secluded park. An overcast had grown and it looked like it would rain soon, making her mood feel even worse.

"God!" she kicked a nearby tree until her foot started to throb. "Why?" she knelt down and hugged her knees, leaning against the tree that had hurt her. Hot tears started falling and she shivered from the sudden chill in the wind that had started to pick up, whipping her hair every which way. Then she started feeling rain drops start to fall. Well this isn't dramatic… she thought sarcastically. Although the rain sent chills down her spine and she noticed she had given Puck's hoodie back, so she was only wearing a T-shirt and her torn jeans, still she didn't move, she didn't even look up.

Then suddenly, she couldn't feel the rain pelting down on her anymore, and when she looked up, she saw an umbrella. "You okay?" a familiar Irish accent asked.

"Yeah…" she said quietly and moved her eyes over to the puppy dog face looking down at her.

"Then why are you here?" his eyes seemed filled with concern.

"Because, I'm throwing a pity party." She laughed bitterly. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"I thought a nice walk would clear my head." He did a lop-sided grin. "Didn't expect it to rain though."

"Me neither…" she slowly stood up. Then looked over at Rory, noting the fact that he was soaked and holding out the umbrella to her, she shook her head. "You need it more than me." He looked confused for a second.

"Let's share it." he smiled sincerely, which made her laugh.

"Alright." They started walking down the damp walkway. "If you didn't expect it to rain, why did you have an umbrella?" she asked.

"Some nice lady had an extra, she offered it to me, but I didn't want to just take it so I paid for it."

"Well, aren't you a Good Samaritan." She grinned.

"I suppose." He shrugged.

She just smirked at him. "Are you showing off, Rory?" she nudged his shoulder.

"Of course not." He smiled. "Is it working?" he laughed with her and for a moment she forgot why she was here in the first place, but when she saw her car, it all came back.

"Hey, um…Rory?" she looked up at him with sad eyes that made something in his chest tighten.

"Yeah?"

"Can we keep walking?" she said hopefully.

He was taken aback; a sane person would want to get out of the rain, instead she wanted to stay in it, needless to say, he wasn't about to argue with an insane person. He smiled at his joke.

"Yeah." They passed her car and kept walking down what they now realized to be a bike trail.

They were silent for a moment or two, just listening to the rain pelt down on the umbrella and on the ground.

"What were you doing out here, really?" Rory broke the silence.

She sighed then looked at him. "My dad is gone." She said quietly. He looked at her in confusion. "He's just gone, no explanation, just up and left." She smiled sadly.

He stared at her for a second more. "I'm sorry." He wanted to do something, hug her, and tell her it will get better, but he didn't know what to do.

She smiled sadly. "Don't be." she said simply. "I'm not sure why he did it, but I hope I'll get to see him again." He looked confused again. "So I can tell him off." She clarified. "And maybe ask him why."

He nodded silently, maybe this was the best he could do, just listen when she needed it. But he didn't like seeing her like this; he liked the way she looked earlier, face red with excitement, clever enough to avoid the teachers, brave enough to kick Scott. That was the Demi he wanted to see.

He heard her sigh and looked over to see her smiling, not a sad smile, not a happy smile, just a smile…a beautiful smile…a content smile.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"I guess live with the Hudson-Hummel's…" she looked down at her feet.

Rory nodded and they walked in silence, it was a comfortable silence that neither of them wanted to end.

Then they saw the trail circled back and they soon ended up back at her car.

"It's a nice car." He said awkwardly.

She knew he was just trying to make conversation, but none the less, she smiled.

"It is." She opened the driver door before looking back at him. "Do you want a ride?" she smirked devilishly.

Rory felt his heart beat faster for different reasons, he knew one was fear but he couldn't quite make out the other reason.

He nodded slowly and slid into the passenger seat, slightly worried that their wet clothes might ruin the leather seats.

"Where to?" she looked at him.

"Do you know where Brittany lives?"

"You live with Brittany?" she raised an eyebrow. "That must be fun." She said sarcastically.

He laughed slightly. "It is."

She started the car, not really knowing where Brittany lived, but they made it eventually.

Rory got out of the car, slightly shaken.

"You okay, Irishman?" she laughed.

"That's how you drive?" he swallowed to keep himself from throwing up.

"Yep." She popped the 'p'.

"That's very…interesting."

"Thank you." She seemed in better spirits than before, but he had a feeling that was for his benefit.

"See you at school tomorrow?" He hobbled over to the door.

"You betcha." She winked and got back into the car.

Rory heard her tires squeal as she drove off. 'She's going to get in a car accident some day.' He thought to himself, but right when he was about to open the door he thought about how she acted. She definitely seem like the kind of person that used the word 'betcha', he had a feeling she was hurting more than she let on.

Demi was driving down the road, keeping her tears at bay so she could see properly. A part of her wished she hadn't run into Rory, so then she could have cried all she wanted, but another part of her was glad he was there…she sighed and shook those thoughts away.

* * *

 **Hey, yeah I know I'm a horrible person... I had some major writer's block and couldn't get past the part where Demi tells Rory about her dad, hopefully I can update in...well...no longer than one month.**

 **Also, Alex B. Goode; I knew I was forgetting someone! But I'm not sure how I could have forgotten Joe. I promise he will be in the next chapter.**

 **Thanks to Gleekforever12345, Alex B. Goode, and Guest!**

 **Sorry there wasn't a song in this chapter, I couldn't really fit one in, with the writer's block. Hopefully the next one will make up for this.**

 **Don't forget to review! Please?**


	4. The Festival I

"December Colt!" the teacher yelled, causing some students to giggle. Demi looked up from her notebook.

"What?" she asked casually.

"What is the temperature of the Protostar now, since I'm sure you've been following along with us?" he asked, knowing she hadn't been paying attention.

"A few thousand kelvins." She grinned at his disappointed face.

"That is correct…" he droned on about astronomy while Demi looked back down to her notebook.

She just need the finishing touches and…finished! She smiled and leaned back, forging Finn's handwriting was surprisingly easy. Now all she had to do was send this to Santana and watch everything play out. She looked over and smirked when she saw Rory barely contain his grin when he saw the letter she was writing.

"You're evil you know?" he said as they walked out of class.

"Your point?" she smirked. "Things have gotten so…mundane." She spat. "I wish something would happen and if I have to make it happen, so be It." she shrugged as she stopped at her locker.

"I thought Finn was your friend." Rory leaned against the lockers as she got out her books.

"He is, but he understands it's every man for himself when I'm bored, Puck does too and I'm sure Kurt will find out pretty soon…" she trailed off, faking an innocent look.

"Evil, She-Demon," he listed thing off as she chuckled. "Maggot."

"I assume that's an insult in Ireland." She smiled.

"And describes you perfectly." They grinned at each other, not noticing when a girl named Dina walked up.

"Well if it isn't the Goth and the foreigner." She smirked. "They should make a movie off you two."

"I have been told I'm a wonderful actress, I could play myself." Demi smiled. "And get Jamie Dornan to play Rory, mm." she got a dreamy look on her face, earning a slight glare from Rory.

"Yeah right." Dina nodded sarcastically. "Like he'd play Rory."

"I bet he'd be honored." Rory defended himself.

"Whatever, I need this done by tomorrow." Dina handed Demi a stack of papers, but she didn't take them, instead she looked at them and back at Dina with a mocking smirk.

"And I'd do your homework, why?" she asked.

"Because you're relatively smart and I don't feel like doing them." she shrugged.

Demi leaned over and looked at the papers. "Next time you ask someone to do your homework for you, don't act smarter than them but accidently leave your graded papers in the stack…Little Miss F." Demi smirked at Dina horror stricken face as she rifled through the papers but found nothing. "So you did get an F!" Demi laughed in her face.

Dina looked really angry for a second and Rory thought she was going to kill Demi right there. "I think Glee club is starting," Rory said before pushing Demi in that direction, leaving Dina to her thoughts of murder.

"What are you doing?" Demi asked.

"Jamie Dornan…" he mumbled under his breath, but she heard him and grinned. "Little Miss F though?" he smirked. "How'd you know?"

"She might as well have told me when she handed me those papers." Demi laughed. "The notes were awful and it that test was a while ago so she must have had to retake it…nice handwriting though." she complimented with a nod.

Rory laughed as they walked into the club room.

"Did you get into a fight?" Finn asked immediately.

She stayed silent for a moment. "More or less…" she looked around the room.

"We need to know." Puck said urgently, earning a slap in the chest from Finn.

Demi eyes them suspiciously. "Why…?"

Finn sighed, but Rachel spoke up. "They bet on whether you got into a fight today since they think you're still upset about…you know…" she waved it off.

"No, Rachel, I don't know…" she spat with a smirk, daring Rachel to continue. Of course, Rachel didn't take the hint.

"With your dad leaving and everything…" she leaned in like it was a secret.

Rory looked at Demi and saw the flash of hurt in her eyes; no one else seemed to see that though. She continued to stare Rachel down, without blinking, making Rachel seem slightly uncomfortable.

"Then no, I didn't have a fight." She said looking back at Finn and Puck. "So who won?" she shrugged.

They stayed silent; Demi kept her eyes on Puck, knowing it was probably him that bet she would fight someone. To her surprise, Finn gave ten dollars to Puck, looking pretty ashamed.

"You bet that I wouldn't get into a fight?" she blinked in confusion at Puck, who just shrugged.

"You're not whiney." He said.

"Thank you." She put a hand over her heart and nodded at him.

"You're welcome." He put the ten dollar bill in his pocket.

"Alright everybody," Mr. Shue walked in. "I have an announcement."

But then Santana and Brittany walked in, Demi's attention was drawn to the letter in her bag, so she didn't hear Mr. Shue until he started talking about some festival.

"And we have to sing?" Rachel asked happily.

"The school can't afford a band." Mr. Shue said.

"We can't make it." Santana said. "The Cheerios are cheering for the game."

"And the Titans playing so…" Finn said.

"Are we supposed to sing for the whole night?" Demi asked while raising her hand for some reason.

"No, actually." Mr. Shue said while picking up a stack of papers. "We'll be doing two numbers as a group, one at the beginning and one at the end," he handed everyone a piece of paper. "The rest of the time, will be solos."

"Everyone gets a solo?" Mercedes asked.

Demi glanced over and saw Rachel looking somewhere in between happy and disappointed.

"Yes, and you get to pick your song, just make sure to run it by me first." He smiled.

"So we can go around the festival before having to sing?" Joe asked. Demi looked up, having sort of recognized his voice.

"It's your own time." Mr. Shue shrugged. "Do as you wish, just keep track of the time."

"I heard there was going to be a Ferris wheel?" Tina asked.

"How can we afford a Ferris wheel and not a band?" Quinn scoffed.

"It was a donation." He explained. "Along with some other cool rides."

"Do they have a roller coaster?" Demi raised an eyebrow.

"A small one." She made a disappointed face as he sighed.

* * *

Demi sat in Finn's bedroom, the Hudson-Hummel's house was small, and so she finally got Finn to agree to let her sleep on the couch every other night, so they alternated. Tonight was her night on the bed.

She put her ponytail holder in her mouth as she gathered her hair up. Quinn had already convinced her to go with them to get a new outfit for the festival; something she was not looking forward to.

She sighed as she finished her ponytail and looked around the room; it smelled like guys…she didn't know why she decided to hang out in here.

She stood from the bed and went to her suitcase, she still hadn't unpacked. She didn't want to; it felt like if she unpacked, she'd be accepting the fact that her father was gone, that she was likely to live out the rest of her high school life here.

She stopped what she was doing and glared at nothing in particular. No, she would not think like that, she's not whiney, like Puck said. She shook her head and started pulling out her coats. How many did she have?

She frowned, realizing she might have to go shopping after all. She didn't have enough clothes, she had only packed so much, and the rest of her clothes were probably in Boston, she wasn't attached to any of them, so that wasn't the problem. She pulled out an oversized leather jacket; she probably had had it for five years. She found it in her dad's old things, from way back when he was cool. She giggled slightly; he was a suit-wearing, desk jockey now.

She slipped it on and smiled at the familiar feeling, she was never getting rid of this jacket for as long as she lived. She slipped on her silver-feather necklace; her best friend back in Boston had given it to her. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror, torn, old jeans, a navy blue v-neck, and her favorite jacket, her clock-face earrings and feather-necklace. She grinned; maybe Quinn and the rest would leave her alone if she looked good already.

Sadly that wasn't the case…

* * *

When Demi got to the mall, she was immediately greeted by Quinn, Mercedes, Tina, Sugar, Rachel, Brittany, and Santana.

"You're late!" Quinn exclaimed as she went in for a hug.

"Yeah, sorry…" Demi said.

"What are you wearing?" Sugar looked at the leather jacket. Okay, maybe not the best thing to wear if she wanted them to think she looked good, none of them looked like leather-jacket wearing people, except for maybe Santana, she'd look good in a leather jacket, maybe not this one…

"Clothes." Demi said simply.

They just laughed and lead her into the clothes district.

"So, we've guessed what you wear most of the time." Tina said. "No more dresses like the last one, we swear." She raised her right arm.

"Don't swear that!" Sugar said with wide eyes. "I want to dress her up like a doll."

"That's not creepy at all…" Demi frowned. "I'm serious though, no more pink monstrosities with frills?"

"No more…'pink monstrosities with frills'." Quinn promised, rolling her eyes at Demi's description.

"I'm sorry I missed that." Rachel smiled.

"I don't worry, I got pictures." Santana showed her phone.

"Delete those." Demi said as she tried to grab her phone, but Santana put it in her pocket at the last moment.

"No, I plan on sending it to all the guys in Glee, see how they like It." she smirked. "Since they weren't there to witness it themselves, it only seems fair."

"Santana, you better not." She growled.

"And 'send'." Brittany said as she tapped a button on Santana's phone.

"How did you…?" Demi looked between the two cheerleaders. "It was in her pocket."

"You weren't paying attention." Santana grinned devilishly.

"You little…" but Demi's phone buzzed before she could finish. It was Finn.

"Are you okay?" she heard him over the phone.

"I'm fine…" she ground out. "Just ignore any texts you may get."

"Oh, I already got it, you look cute."

"I did not look cute!" she said louder than she meant to, earning some laughter. "I have to go." She said and as soon as she hung up, she got a text from Kurt.

" _ **Are you wearing that to the festival?**_ "

And then from Blaine: " ** _Pink suits you :)_** " at this she growled again. And then her phone just started blowing up.

" ** _Wish it was shorter ;)_** " from Sam.

" ** _Why did Santana send me a pic of you?_** " from Mike.

" ** _New homepage…_** " from Puck.

" ** _You should wear this more often_**." from Joe.

" ** _You look good_**." From Artie.

And finally, after she thought everyone was done, the girls had moved on to the nearest store and her phone hadn't vibrated in a few minutes, she decided not to smash her phone over Santana's head. And then it vibrated one more time.

She frowned, not everyone had texted yet? Then she looked and saw Rory's name.

" ** _Is Santana bugging you?_** " he asked, and she couldn't help but smile. He knew her so well.

"Yes, that was from when I first met them. I didn't want to dress like that, but they made me :*(" She smiled and stuck her phone in her jacket pocket, and followed the rest into the store.

"How may I help you, ma'am?" the overly-chipper cashier said.

"Uh, I'm just with my friends." She pointed at the group of girls, gushing over the clothes.

The girl gave the Glee club girls a once over before turning back to Demi, giving her a skeptical look. "You're…friends?" she pointed discreetly at the group. "With them?"

"I know…" she sighed. "They forced me into this." Then she continued walking.

"Demi, you would look so cute in this!" Sugar said, holding up a sparkly, golden dress.

"Nope." She brushed it off.

"You have to pick something; we won't let you leave the mall until you do." Quinn threatened.

Demi fidgeted under her gaze. "Okay, does it have to be this store?"

"No, but it has to be a dress, I want everyone to see you in a dress." She said.

"Everyone already has." Demi mumbled while glaring at Santana.

* * *

They went to five different stores before Demi found something she'd tolerate, and that Quinn and the rest had accepted. It was a simple, black dress, with double spaghetti straps that went criss-cross in the back, other than that, showing her bare back until it reached her waist, which it hugged comfortably; it then flowed down to just above her knees, she probably wouldn't have accepted something that was too tight, she liked the skirt on it since it gave her room to breathe in her opinion.

Quinn and Rachel then went and picked a pair of strappy, black heels that matched the dress, and Mercedes and Tina went and got a cherry red trench coat that stopped right at her knees.

"Come over to my house tomorrow night and we'll get ready." Was the instruction given by Sugar.

"And try not to let Finn or Kurt see your outfit." Rachel said. "It's supposed to be a surprise."

Demi nodded.

"What are you planning on doing for your solo?" Santana asked.

"I don't know, I haven't given it much thought." Demi shrugged.

"Well, Mr. Shue said we won't be dancing, since it's such short notice, we can't choreograph something in time." Rachel said.

"That's why we chose heels." Quinn said. "Because we could." She smiled.

"Yeah, we'll just stand around and sing whatever Mr. Shue picked for the group songs." Tina said.

"But you're pretty much free to do whatever you want for your solo." Sugar said excitedly.

Demi hummed in thought, she had an idea of what she might want to do.

* * *

 **I am soooooooooooo sorrryyyyyy! I know it's been forever since I last updated...(._.) sorry...**

 **To make up for it, I'll update within the next two weeks...or you know...try to.**

 **Special thanks to: Alex B. Goode for your review.**

 **As promised, Joe is in this chapter, a small part but still...**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**


	5. The Festival II

**Did I say two week? Heh...I meant...well, I have no excuse other than severe writers block for this story. So please, give me ideas!**

* * *

Demi awoke in a bed, Finn's bed. She smiled and pulled the covers up more, happy that she didn't have to sleep on the couch last night.

"Demi." She heard a faint voice. "If you want first dibs on the shower, you should get up now." It was Mrs. Hudson-Hummel giving wise advise.

Demi shot up and raced into the bathroom, slamming the door in Finn's face, who preceded to bang on the door, telling her to hurry up. She took her time.

It was twenty minutes later that she got out of the shower and slipped on a pair of skinny jeans and a Pink Floyd shirt.

She opened the door, only to be almost knocked over by Finn as he and Kurt raced to get in there first, Finn won.

"We'll be late!" Kurt said to the door.

"Oh, you're right…" Demi looked at her wristwatch. "I'm leaving in fifteen minutes, if you want a ride, hurry up!" she yelled so Finn could hear too.

Kurt sighed and leaned against the wall, waiting. Demi laughed and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. She grabbed two pieces of bread and popped them in the toaster.

"They won't get breakfast if they don't hurry up." she smiled to herself.

She got out the strawberry jelly and spread some on the warm toast.

"I could have made you some eggs." Mrs. Hudson-Hummel said as she walked in.

"No time, but thanks." She said with a mouthful. She sat on the counter, feeling right at home.

"Alright sweetie." The woman gathered up some discarded clothes, left behind by Finn. "I swear that boy needs to remember where the laundry hamper is or I'll stop doing his laundry." She muttered.

"You do his laundry?" Demi asked.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, I haven't seen any of yours." She said as she straightened up.

"I do my own." Demi said simply. "Have since I was little."

"Really?" she frowned. "Well thank you." She smiled and patted Demi's cheek affectionately. Demi smiled at the woman that had been like a second mom since she was young.

"Fifteen minutes." She mumbled as she looked at her wristwatch again. "I have to go."

"Bye, have fun." Mrs. Hudson-Hummel said as she waved.

"Wait!" Finn called as he jogged down the stairs, his hair still wet. "Wait for me!"

"What about Kurt?" she asked.

"He'll take another twenty minutes." Finn said.

Demi sighed and looked at the time again. "We don't have another twenty minutes…"

"Just go, I'll give him a ride." Mrs. Hudson-Hummel said.

"Bye Mom." Finn kissed her cheek.

"Bye." Demi waved and walked out the door to her car.

"There's no point in me asking to drive, is there?" Finn asked.

"Nope." She said, popping the 'p'.

* * *

They got to the school, luckily, Finn was getting used to Demi's driving so he didn't bend over as soon as they stopped, but he did have that dizzy feeling.

She hopped out and raced into the doors, not bothering to look back at Finn.

She ran down the halls and slammed right into a certain Irish exchange student.

"What're you running for?" he said as he looked at her surprised face then she broke out in a grin and hugged him. He tensed and didn't move until after she already let go, her face in an even larger grin if that was possible. "What was that for?"

"Because I, December Bl-" she stopped herself before she said her middle name. "December B. Colt, for once since I moved here, I am in a good mood." She laughed and started walking, her laughter ringing happily in Rory's ears, causing him to smile.

"Any particular reason?" he asked as he caught up with her, wiping the stupid smile off his face.

"No. I just want to enjoy it until it ends and I am once again lost in the miserable depths of despair…" then she slowed down and looked at her feet. "It's gone…" then she sighed and Rory frowned. "And it's back again." And she lifted her head with another Cheshire grin.

"You're insane." He laughed.

"You're not the first to call me that." She smiled, but then bumped right into a girl with bleached hair and clumpy mascara. Dina.

"Watch it, Goth Girl." She glared.

Demi made a sad face and started waving at the door, both Rory and Dina looked over and nobody was there.

"What are you waving at?" Rory turned back to her and asked.

"I'm saying goodbye to my good mood, it's not coming back this time…" she shook her head in disappointment, and then glared at a shocked Dina.

"Freak." Dina spat.

"Little Miss F." she looked back at Dina with a blank face.

"Call me that one more time; I swear I'll rip those piercings of yours out."

"Little…Miss…" then she leant in close to Dina's livid face. "F."

Dina growled and lunged but another man came and grabbed her before she could do anything, Rory and Demi looked up at the same time, only to come face to face with Scott and his goons.

"Uh oh…" Demi muttered and looked for an escape route, there was none.

"Wait your turn, princess; I've got a score to settle with these two." He said while glaring at the two sophomores.

"Hey, Scottie." Demi saluted, and then slowly started backing up with Rory. "Listen, class is starting soon, we don't really want to miss it so…" she turned around and was about to bolt but Scott stopped her.

"I don't think so, Colt." He gripped her shoulder and Rory swallowed his unexpected anger at that.

"Might want to let go of me Scottie." She warned.

"Or what, what can you do?" he scoffed. "You're too small to do anything to me, I was caught off guard last time, and I won't make the same mistake twice."

"You're in trouble." She said in a sing song voice. Rory looked where she was looking and caught a glimpse of a tall, brown haired boy.

"I'd take your hand off her if I were you Scott." Finn pinned the Hockey player to the lockers.

"Okay, okay, we're good." He held his hands up in surrender.

Finn shoved him once more before grabbing Demi's leather Jacket collar and Rory's arm. Demi turned around and stuck her tongue out at a fuming Scott.

"I take my eye off you for one second…" Finn grumbled and shook his head.

"You act like it's my fault." Demi said.

"It is…sort of…" Rory mumbled.

"Way to throw me under the bus, Ror." She rolled her eyes.

"Ror?" he asked.

"Anyways," she waved him off. "Class is starting soon, we need to get going." She grabbed Rory's shirtsleeve and pulled him in the direction she was going. "Thanks for the save, Finn." She waved and entered the classroom, missing Finn's fond smile and shake of his head.

"Miss Colt, Mister Flanagan, how nice of you two to join us." The teacher stared at them from the top of her glasses, which were attached to a necklace of beads so she wouldn't lose them. "Class starts at 8:30 sharp." She kept her eyes on them as they tried to blend in with the wall and inch their way closer to their desks, which were all the way in the back. "It would be best to remember that." Then she continued droning on with her lesson.

Demi was dozing off; her chin resting on her hand, eyes half-closed, when suddenly the person in front of her passed a note to her.

She frowned in confusion and opened it, there was no one behind her and only Rory beside her; she was in the back corner.

The note read: _Got a date for the festival?_ In somewhat sloppy handwriting.

She frowned again and wrote out _No_ , then handed the note back to the person in front of her, the guy then passed it to the man in front of him, who read it, then wrote something down and handed it back to the guy in front of Demi, who she heard sigh in irritation and hand to her.

 _Wanna go with me?_ It read. She scoffed, accidently drawing the attention of the Irishman next to her.

 _Not really_ she wrote and passed it to the guy in front of her; she could _feel_ him roll his eyes. She watched the guy two desks in front of her open it, seeing his brows knit from the angle she was at.

She saw him start to write something else but the bell rang and everyone started getting up, she looked towards a confused Rory.

"I don't have next period with you, right?" she asked.

He shook his head and gathered his books. They started walking to the door, but had to separate there. "See you." He waved.

"Bye." She turned down the opposite direction and started to the next class. She didn't notice the running footsteps behind her until someone stopped next to her and smiled.

"Hi, you're December Colt, right?" he asked.

"Yes, and you are?" she said without looking at him.

"Joel Lincoln." He extended a hand; she stopped and looked at it cautiously. "It's not gonna hurt to shake my hand, is it?"

She reached out and shook it firmly. "You already know my name, but just call me Demi, okay?"

"Alright." He gave a toothy grin. "And...Sorry about my sister…" he looked away.

"'Sister'?" she raised an eyebrow. "…Lincoln…" then she groaned. "Dina Lincoln…"

"Yeah…" he rolled his eyes. "That's her."

"I do not envy you, Lincoln." She laughed.

"I'd trade if I could." He laughed with her.

"So, it was you writing the notes, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he scratched his head nervously. "So, why won't you go with me?"

"I don't know you." She turned around and pushed the door open with her back while facing him. "And you don't know me."

"Your point?" he smirked. "We could get to know each other." He jumped in front of her.

"What makes you so sure I want to?" she brushed past him.

"It's always nice to have an ally?" he shrugged and sat in the seat in front of hers.

She raised an eyebrow in contemplation. "Maybe, but I'm still not going to be your date." She took out her book and set it on her desk.

"Is it that Irish guy?" he looked at her. "Are you guys, like, a thing?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I just don't want a date in general." She shrugged.

He sighed in defeat. "Aren't you in the Glee club?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she narrowed her eyes.

"I heard you guys were doing something for tonight." He glanced at her notes.

"Yeah…" then she paused. "I have to do a solo…" she grumbled and smacked her forehead on her desk.

Joel looked surprised. "Aren't you Glee kids supposed to like solos?"

"You say that like you're an old man…" she smiled.

"Oh yeah, I'm an old man that loved high school so much I entered it again." He rolled his eyes. "So, what are you singing?"

She looked up and rubbed where her forehead hurt. "It's a surprise, Lincoln."

He chuckled and looked to the front when the teacher came in.

* * *

"Where are you?" Quinn said over the phone.

"Oh…I'm…" Demi looked around the living room. "On my way." Then she hung up before Quinn asked anymore questions.

"You really did get a belly button piercing." Finn walked in and looked at her exposed stomach.

"Yeah." She grinned. "I have to go to Sugar's." she got up and pulled her pajama pants up.

"You're going out like that?" he watched her grab her jacket.

She looked down at her Metallica crop-top and striped sweatpants. "I'm getting dressed over there."

Finn grabbed the half-empty bag of Cheetos. "You forgot, didn't you?"

She shrugged guiltily. "It doesn't really matter." She pulled on her pair of black Converse. "I mean, it'll only take me twenty minutes to do everything."

"Can't wait to see you in a dress." He suppressed his laughter.

She smacked his shoulder as he sat on the couch. "It's not that bad." she ran upstairs and came back with a guitar case.

"Oh, you're doing something with a guitar?" he looked at it.

"Yep." She popped the 'p'. "Bye." She grabbed her keys and started to the door.

"I'd say drive safely…but…" he shrugged, dodging the pillow that was thrown at him. "Bye." He called as she closed the door.

* * *

She pulled into the driveway, gaping at the rather large house. "Rich people." She whispered.

She went up, but before she knocked on the door, Sugar opened it. "There you are!" she pulled her in.

"Where's your dress?" Santana asked.

Demi's eyes widened and she looked down at her empty hands. "Umm…"

"It took you this long to realize I took it with me?" Quinn lifted a bag and tossed it to her. "Go get dressed."

"You little…" she grumbled and ran into the bathroom. She pulled the dress on and pulled her hair into a bun.

"We'll do your makeup." Tina said as Demi walked out.

"Your hair looks so much prettier down." Quinn shook her head. "We'll fix it when we get your makeup on."

"It's just a festival; I don't see what the big deal is." She frowned.

"The 'big deal' is, we're going to be singing on stage, so we have to look good." Rachel said as she got out some eye shadow.

"I don't wear a lot of makeup." Demi said and turned her head.

"You will tonight." Quinn grabbed the sides of her head and made her face her. "Now shut up and be still."

It took a longer than Demi was comfortable with to do her makeup and style her hair, but when it was done, she had to admit, she looked good.

"Damn." Santana whistled when she saw her.

"Thank you for doing neutral colors." She said to the "make up crew" that consisted of Tina, Quinn, and Rachel.

"You're welcome." Tine smiled.

"We don't want you to be uncomfortable." Quinn slung an arm around Demi.

"Then why'd you make me wear a dress?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean…" she looked for something to say, but Sugar conveniently interrupted her.

"You look adorable!" she gushed. "Wait hold on…" she grabbed some rouge and applied it to Demi's high cheekbones. "Now, you look perfect!"

"Thanks." She smiled forcefully. More makeup, that's exactly what she needed…

"It's time to go!" Brittany looked at the time on her phone.

* * *

"Wow, you drive…" Quinn searched for some kind of compliment, but found none. "You drive." She shrugged at a smirking Demi.

"You guys are such babies." She rolled her eyes at the green-faced girl, stumbling out of the backseat.

"How did you ever get your learners permit?" Mercedes groaned.

"I should have ridden with Brittany." Santana sighed and nearly fell over when her foot got caught in the car.

"Ohh, yeah, watch your step…" Demi snickered and started walking away, twirling her keys on her fingers.

"Whoa…" Puck whistled lowly when she came into view.

"You look great!" Kurt said.

"Thanks." She hugged him. "Is everyone here now?"

"Uhh yeah…" Finn looked around, but she ran off when she saw a certain Irishman.

"Don't you look snazzy." She grinned and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, hey!" he swatted her hand away and fixed his hair. "I could say the same about you." He looked at her dress. She was beautiful, but he'd rather call her snazzy and save himself the embarrassment…because snazzy is much less embarrassing. "The guitar case really completes it." he smirked at the black guitar case strapped to her back.

She stuck a pose. "I know it does." Then they both laughed.

"Your hair doesn't look that different." He looked at the black curls in a loose, half ponytail.

"It's not, and word of advice…never tell a girl her hair doesn't look different." She smirked.

"Dually noted." He nodded.

"Want to play a game?" she raised an eyebrow challengingly. "We don't have to sing for fifteen minutes or so, right?"

"Yeah, sure…" he looked at her. "Ring toss, or maybe balloon darts." He looked at the different stalls.

"I wanna shoot something!" she ran over to the 'hit the duck' stall and got all of them, surprising Rory.

"Where'd you learn to aim?" he inquired.

She shrugged. "I feel like I've seen someone else do It." she frowned. "Can't quite remember though…"

"Well, you got a stuffed bear." He held up the toddler sized, caramel colored bear.

"Yes I did." She grinned proudly and held up her Styrofoam cup filled with lemonade. "Here's to whoever aimed a gun that I can't, for the life of me, remember."

"Here, here!" he tapped their cups together and laughed.

"Another game and then it's time to go on." She sighed.

"You good?" he asked.

"I think my singing voice is okay." She shrugged.

"No, I mean…are you okay?" he looked down at his drink, swirling it around. "Since…you know."

"I'm fine." She smiled, and then laughed at his skeptical look. "Really, I am, he must have had a good reason."

"If you're not going to be mad at him, I hope you don't mind if I'm mad for you." He shrugged and downed the last of the lemonade.

She smiled widely. "That's what makes you such a good friend."

He watched as she drank the last of her drink and threw away the cup. "Yeah…" he muttered.

"Come on, one more game!" she pulled him by his hand towards the ring toss.

* * *

"I'm nervous, should I be nervous?" Demi asked as she watched them set the stool down in front of the microphone.

"I've heard you sing, you'll be fine." Rory handed her the guitar. "Is this the first time you've done it in public?"

"I entered a competition when I was nine, got second place." She smiled slightly and nodded.

"See, it's all good." He patted her shoulder, both ignoring the sparks they felt.

"Good, it's all good." She breathed.

"You're on." Mr. Shue said. "Break a leg."

She nodded and sent a thumbs up to Rory. She walked on the stage and saw the people standing below it, waiting for her to start.

She was just glad there were no jocks to heckle her, or anybody else for that matter.

She cleared her throat and sat on the stool, bringing her guitar to rest against her crossed legs. She looked back to Rory and Mr. Shue, they both gave reassuring smiles. She wondered briefly why Rory went with her to backstage, but quickly told herself that he must be on next.

She turned back to the people and saw them looking expectantly at her.

She breathed to calm herself and started strumming the guitar.

 _"_ _It's a really old city_ _,  
Split between the dead and the living,  
So I thought to myself,  
Sitting on a graveyard shelf  
As the echo of heartbeats,  
From the ground below my feet  
Filled a cemetery in the center of Queens._

 _I started running the maze of the names and the dates,_  
 _Some older than others_  
 _The skyscrapers, little tombstone brothers._  
 _With Manhattan behind her,_  
 _Three million stunning reminders_  
 _Built a cemetery in the center of Queens_

 _You said, remember that life is not meant to be wasted._  
 _We can always be chasing the sun!_  
 _So fill up your lungs and just run,_  
 _We'll always be chasing the sun."_

She smiled slightly and looked back to Rory, his smile gone; he was simply listening intently, hanging on every lyric.

 _"_ _So how do you do it,  
With just words and just music,  
Capture the feeling  
That my earth is somebody's ceiling,  
Can I deliver in sound,  
The weight of the ground  
Of a cemetery in the center of Queens_

 _There's a history through her_  
 _Sent to us as a gift from the future_  
 _To show us the proof_  
 _More than that, it's to dare us to move_  
 _And to open our eyes_  
 _And to learn from the sky_  
 _From a cemetery in the center of Queens"_

Rory was impressed by her guitar skill, but he found himself paying more attention to the girl herself. He decided right there, with the lights behind her giving her a beautiful halo, and her small smile, that she was the most breathtaking girl he had ever seen. He felt his heart swell with emotion, some unrecognizable, but one he could clearly make out, he wanted her to smile all the time, and to never feel pain again.

 _"_ _You said, remember that life is not meant to be wasted_ _,  
We can always be chasing the sun!  
So fill up your lungs and just run,  
We'll always be chasing the sun!_

 _All we can do is try,_  
 _And live like we're still alive._

 _It's a really old city,_  
 _Split between the dead and the living,_  
 _So I thought to myself_  
 _Sitting on a graveyard shelf,_  
 _And the gift of my heartbeat_  
 _Sounds like a symphony_  
 _Played by a cemetery in the center of Queens._

 _You said, remember that life is not meant to be wasted,_  
 _We can always be chasing the sun!_  
 _So fill up your lungs and just run,_  
 _We'll always be chasing the sun!_

 _All we can do is try,_  
 _And live like we're still alive._

 _All we can do is try,_  
 _And live like we're still alive."_

She smiled wider as the crowd clapped. She slid off the stool and waved slightly before walking backstage.

"I did it!" she laughed. "I did it and I was awesome!" she fist-pumped the air.

"You were!" Rory smiled.

"You're on next, aren't you?" she asked breathlessly.

He frowned in confusion. "No, I'm around the end."

Her smile faltered. "Then why…?" she blinked and shook her head. "Forget it." she smiled again. "My hearts beating fast." She laughed.

"I would imagine that's the adrenaline." He smiled with her.

"That must be it…" she clutched her guitar a bit tighter.

"I'll get you some water, alright, you look a bit flushed." He started walking away.

"It's just adrenaline…" she muttered after he left. "Then why isn't it going away?" she looked down. "And why do I feel like my face is too warm, and my stomachs going to explode and the butterflies will fly out?" she sighed. "I must have caught something…yeah…I'm just sick…" But a small part of her, hidden deep in the back of her mind knew it wasn't any illness, because what illness would have her feel like she was floating every time he smiled at her? And what illness would cause the butterflies in her stomach whenever he looked her way?

No, but it must just be an illness…

* * *

 **I do not own Chasing the Sun, by Sara Bareilles!**

 **And sorry again for the delay...but thanks to Guest for their review!**


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